Jeepers Creepers: Return of the Creepalien
by Ali Wenstern
Summary: One summer. Four friends. Two hungry monsters. Twenty-three days of horror. The Creeper and Creepalien are wide-awake and back, with new victims to claim. Who will get out alive? More violence than usual, rated M to be safe.
1. The Hospital

**A/N: Well, here it is, the first chapter. The rest of the story is no where near finished, but I couldn't keep you guys waiting any longer! Hope you enjoy!**

**~Ali Wenstern**

_

* * *

Black shadows fly over his head. He ducks and screams. The thing above him lets out a horrendous wail and he is forced to cover his ears with his hands, but the sound still pierce through. Strong claws wrap around his body and his is lifted into the air._

"_Let me go!" he screams and struggles._

_The claws dig in deep, breaking the skin. Blood flows down his body as the ground shrinks beneath him. He looks up at his captor and finds himself staring into a mouth of shiny teeth._

"No!" Wesley screams.

"Wesley, wake up!" a frantic voice says.

Wesley is shaken ferociously and his eyes fly open. He is back in his hospital room, the room that has housed him for the past 8 months.

"Another nightmare?" the voice above him asks.

Wesley focuses on the face above him and finally recognizes her. "Nurse Madeline."

"Wesley, how many times have I told you to call me Maddie?" Maddie asked.

"Sorry."

"So, was it another nightmare?"

Wesley nods. "It felt so real, just like it has every other time I've had it."

Maddie pats his back gently, her face sad as she gazes into Wesley's suffering eyes. "Come on, get up."

"Why?"

"Have you forgotten? You have your first session with Dr. Matthews today."

Wesley groans and tries to pull the thin pillow over his head. "I don't want to see another doctor."

"Come on Wesley," Maddie insists.

When Wesley doesn't move, she grabs him by the arm, pulling him from the narrow mattress. Wesley gives in and follows Maddie out of the room and down the hall. He tunes out the wails and moans of the other patients; he is used to this now.

"Here we are," Maddie says, trying to be cheerful. She opens the door with the small name plague that read 'counseling'.

Wesley steps inside. He had been in this room before; the desk in the middle of the room is the same, the lamp, the window, the blinds and the two chairs, one on either side of the desk. The chair behind the desk is occupied by the doctor. He is young, younger than the other doctors, and he smiles when Wesley steps into the room. He is so natural looking, brown hair and brown eyes, he looks relatable, like he will understand Wesley's problems.

"Hello, you must be Wesley, my name is Dr. Matthews," he says, extending a hand.

Wesley shakes his hand and lowers himself in the empty chair in front of the desk. He doesn't meet the doctor's eyes, just stares at the dark spot on the desk.

"So, Wesley," Dr. Matthews says, "How many counselors have you had?"

"Three," Wesley answers.

"Three, huh? Did you like talking to them?"

"No."

"Why?"

"They didn't believe me, and neither will you."

"And why not?" Dr. Matthews inquires.

"They say that I made everything up so I didn't have to face the truth."

"What if I told you that I'm not here to believe or disbelieve you; I'm only here to help you get better."

"I don't want to get better."

Frowning, Dr. Matthews asks, "What's wrong with getting better?"

"It's safe in here," Wesley whispers, "They can't get me in here."

"The monsters?" Dr. Matthews asks.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me."

Dr. Matthews clears his throat. "Why don't you tell me about your sister?" Wesley's eyes widen in surprise. "What's the matter?"

"You're the only one who's asked me about her. The others just wanted to tell me what I saw wasn't real."

"If I want to help you, I have to understand everything about what happened. So, your sister?"

"Her name was Staci and she was my twin."

"Identical?"

A small grin appears on Wesley's face, one of the first in a long time. "No, that's what made it so funny; we didn't look anything alike, yet whenever we told someone we were twins they would look at us and then say something about how they could see it."

"You like talking about your sister," Dr. Matthews notes.

Wesley grin grows a little wider. "She was always there for me, ya know? We were inseparable."

"Even to celebrate your high school graduation?" Dr. Matthews asks.

"Yes."

"And you each brought a friend?"

"That was the rule, only one friend."

"Who'd your sister bring?"

"Why are you asking these questions?" Wesley asks, "Don't you just want to hear the story and then tell me it was just my imagination?"

Dr. Matthews smiles. "I want to learn about who was there, so I can understand better."

"Fine, her name was Carla and she was the youngest; a Junior. She and Staci had met in band and became close friends." Wesley's voice cracks. "She wanted to be a doctor. She always wanted to help people." Tears begin streaming down Wesley's cheeks. "She didn't deserve what happened to her."

Wesley buries his face in his hands and sobs. Dr. Matthews lets him cry for a few minutes before saying, "Do you want to stop for the day?"

"No," Wesley chocks, "You were right, I feel better talking about them."

Smiling gently, Dr. Matthews says gently, "Go on, and take your time if you need to."

Taking a deep breath, Wesley sighs, "I brought my friend, Danny. We'd been friends longer than Carla and Staci and he was excited about spending the week at the house."

"And where was this house?"

"Poho County, Florida. There wasn't much there, except for maybe one or two towns along the highway. Some company was fixing to go out of business and tried to salvage what they had left. They constructed a giant lake and managed to build seven houses before finally going out of business. My father bought the property as well as the houses. One of them became our summer home."

"So that was where it happened?"

"Yes."

"Were there any other people living at the houses at the time?"

"I don't know about all of them, the houses weren't that close together, but yes, there was a family living in one of the nearby houses."

"Did they see what you saw?"

Wesley shrugs. "They were dead when we found them."

Dr. Matthews sighs and looks down at Wesley's chart. "Alright, well, if you want, could you start from the beginning?"

Wesley finally looks up at Dr. Matthews. "It started off like any normal vacation…"


	2. Settling In

"Where the heck is your house?" Carla asked, her nose pressed against the window of the car, "All I see is a large mountain and brown terrain."

"It's actually just around the corner of the mountain," Staci said.

"But who would build a house out here? Poho County is a big, fat, empty, nothing."

"Don't ask us, Dad just bought the place 'cause he thought it would look good on a business report," Wesley said.

He shifted in the driver's seat, adjusting his hands on the wheel.

"Dude," Danny asked, his feet propped up on the dashboard, munching on potato chips, "Do you want me to take over, you're looking a little tired there. I don't want us to crash and die, ya know."

"No," Wesley answered, shoving on Danny's feet and yanking the chips out of his hands, "I want you to stop scuffing up my dashboard and getting crumbs all over the floor of my baby."

"Dude, you're just borrowing this car; it's your Dad's," Danny said, dropping his feet to the floor.

"It will be mine."

Staci laughed. "Yeah right, there's no way Dad is going to let you take his '67 Impala to college with you. He loves this car."

"We'll see," Wesley said. "Hang on."

He turned off the main road and onto the dirt one. The ride became incredibly bumpy at that point and a large cloud of dusk got kicked up as the car bounced along. He followed the curve around the mountain.

"Alright, there they are," he exclaimed as the houses came into view.

"Wow," Carla exclaimed in amazement.

The lake was a nice size, the opposite end only just in sight, and the water was a pretty blue color. Seven extravagant houses perched near the lake's edge, each accompanied with a large deck and pier leading to the water. Wesley maneuvered the car past the first house and towards the second one.

"Wow," Carla said again as Wesley shut the car off.

The house, from the outside, looked large, standing three stories high. It was light brown with a dark brown roof; authentic and rustic. Inside the giant, two-door garage parked a shiny black pickup truck. The inside of the house was just as impressive with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a massive kitchen and living room as well as a cozy den. The inside, like the outside, was completely rustic with wrought iron and wood furniture in the living room. The entertainment center was housed in a large wooden unit with darker wood boarders.

"Alright," Wesley said, clapping his hands. "So, everyone take your things, pick a room, and start getting settled in."

He looked up to find himself standing alone in the living room, everyone already and excitedly prancing off to claim their own rooms.

"Get out of here, Daniel! I saw this room first!" Staci's sounded clearly from her location on the second floor.

"Don't call me Daniel!" Danny said, "And there's no way I'm giving up this room. I mean, just check out this view!"

"Well I already brought my suitcase in here!"

"Well I'm already on the bed!"

There was a moment of silence, then, "_Ew_ gross, stop it!"

Danny's laughter rang out and Wesley chuckled, picking up his suitcase and hiking up the wooden stairs. Staci was dragging her suitcase out of one of the rooms, Danny's laughter still coming from it.

"Sorry, sis," Wesley said.

"You pick the weirdest people to be friends with."

"I don't pick my friends, _they_ pick _me_!" Wesley said with a giant grin.

Staci gave her brother a shove. "Get out of my way. I got to find myself another room."

"Don't pick the one at the end of the hall, to the left."

"Why?"

"Cause I've already claimed it."

"You can't claim it if I get there first."

"Oh we'll see," Wesley shouted, running after Staci, laughing.

* * *

"Cannonball!" Danny screamed, jumping off the pier and into the water.

Staci covered her head and shrieked as Danny sailed directly over her. "What's your problem?" she demanded when he resurfaced.

"My problem is that we haven't started enjoying the summer yet!" Danny replied, slapping his hand down hard on the water so that it sprayed Staci.

"Danny, stop it!" Staci cried, covering her face.

Carla chuckled from her spot on the dock, watching her friend get doused with water. "What's the matter? Afraid to get wet while swimming in the lake?"

"You know, sis, she's got a point," Wesley added in from his spot at the grill where he was grilling hamburgers for dinner.

Staci stuck her tongue out at her brother before addressing Carla. "Why don't you come and join us?"

"You know I don't like swimming in rivers or anybody of water other than a pool," Carla responded back.

"Maybe it's time you break that little fear of yours, I mean, it's not like you can't see to the bottom anyway."

"Still freaks me out," Carla said with a shrug, "Besides, the sun's behind the mountain; you can't see to the bottom."

Staci rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

But her face suddenly scrunched up in confusion and she twitched slightly.

"Staci? What's wrong?" Carla asked.

"Oh, nothing, I just thought I felt something brush my leg," Staci replied.

Carla leaned forward slightly, but, with sun behind the mountain, the blue water had turned instantly black. "I don't see anything."

"It was probably just driftwood," Staci replied, before her body suddenly jerked again.

"Staci?"

"I think there's something—" Staci didn't have a chance to finish before she was yanked underneath the surface.

"Staci!" Carla screamed, leaning in over the dock to try and see her friend, "Get out of the water! There's something in the water."

Danny, who hadn't seen what happened, spun around and made a direct line for shore, glancing around him as he did, unable to see in the darkened waters.

Wesley was by Carla in a second. "What happened?"

"I don't know, something just grabbed Staci and pulled her under."

They both peered into the dark water. Suddenly, Staci shot up, screaming and flailing her arms.

"Help me!" she screamed.

Carla stretched out as far as she could. "Give me your hand!"

Staci scrambled for it, her eyes wide with fear. She let out another scream just as she was once again yanked under the surface.

"No, _Staci_!"

The water went still, nothing moved. There was no way to see what was happening below the surface.


	3. Awakening

Carla, Wesley, and Danny leaned over the edge of the dock, staring into the water for any sign of what was happening below. Just then, a stream of bubbles broke the surface, followed by Staci. But she wasn't screaming in pain, she was laughing. The three bewildered teenagers gaped at Staci from the dock, confused.

"Oh my god! You should see your _faces_!" Staci cackled.

"What?" Carla was still shaken.

"It was just a joke," Staci laughed, "And you guys all fell for it. The look on your faces is priceless!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Wesley mumbled.

Carla shot to her feet. "What's the matter with you?"

"What?" Staci asked.

"You had me freaked!"

"It was just a joke."

"That was a pretty mean prank, Staci," Wesley said.

"What? Look, I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd get this upset."

"Sorry? Did you know how worried I was?"

"I'm sorry!"

Carla shook her head and backed away from the edge. "I can't believe you'd do something like this!"

"Carla, it was a mean joke, but that's all it was; a joke," Danny said.

"Just shut up! That was the worst kind of joke I've ever heard of!"

Wesley reached out to put a reassuring hand on Carla's shoulder, but she shook off his touch. She was shaking and her hands were clenched in fists.

"I'm going inside," Carla said, before turning around and stomping back into the house.

* * *

When Carla had finally calmed down enough to go back outside, the sun had completely set, exposing the stars and half-moon. A fire had been built in the fire pit and Danny, Wesley, and Staci huddled around it. Staci looked up when Carla came out, smiling.

"Hey," she said.

Carla returned her smile. "Hey."

"We saved you a burger, it's probably cold, but—"

Wesley handed Carla the plate with the hamburger. She sat down before taking a big bite. It was cold, but she didn't care as she took another bite.

"Look, I'm sorry about before, I shouldn't have pulled that prank on you. I just wanted to have a little fun."

"I know, I shouldn't have lost my head over a joke."

"So we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool."

Staci smiled and wrapped her arms around Carla. Carla returned the hug.

"Great, so you've made up," Danny said, "Now can you shush up so I can finish the story?"

Carla looked over at him in confusion while Staci just smiled.

"He's trying to tell a scary story."

"And I'd like to finish it!"

"Go on," Staci said, rolling eyes.

"Thank you! Anyway, so the girl's really freaking out, like, why is this guy still following her and what's he holding in his hand? She speeds up, but he matches her speed. She gets nervous when she gets closer to her street and he's still following her. So she calls the police and all they say is don't get out of her car. She turns into her neighborhood and he follows. She pulls into her driveway and he parks at the curb. Of course, she wanted to stay in her car like the police suggested, but the man opened the door and started getting out of his car. Struck with a sudden panic, she flew the door open and made a mad dash for her front door. It wasn't until she reached the porch that she realized she had left her keys in the ignition. She turned around, hoping to get back to her car, but found herself face to face with the man.

'Don't try anything!' she screamed, 'I've called the cops, they're on their way!'

The man stares at her in confusion. 'I work at Wal-mart,' he said, 'I saw you drop your wallet in the parking lot and was just trying to return it.'"

When Danny finished he broke into a wide grin, staring into the glowing faces of his friends. Wesley and Staci both raised eyebrows. Carla, however, didn't realize she had been holding her breath and she let it out slowly in a soft _woosh_.

"Was that it?" Staci asked.

Danny's smile faded slightly. "Yeah."

"That was your scary story?" Wesley added.

"Yeah," Danny repeated.

"It wasn't much of a ghost story."

"It wasn't supposed to be. It was just supposed to startle you a bit."

"I don't know who you were trying to freak out; that was pretty lame."

"Well it seemed to spook Carla," Danny said, gesturing to the sudden break out in goosebumbs on Carla's arms.

Carla clutched her arms to her chest. "It's just cold out here, that's all," she said.

"Oh come on!" Danny exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air, "Do any of you have a story they want to share?"

"I have one," Staci said, "It's actually a local story."

"Oh yeah?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah, you don't know about it because you didn't come with us when Daddy came by to do an inspection of the property. There was an old woman at the gas station in the town we stopped at. She told me the story."

"And?"

"Well, apparently, there's a semi-human demon that lives in that very mountain," Staci started, nodding to the mountain, which was only a dark outline. "Every twenty-third spring for twenty-three days he is awake. He's called the Creeper because of this eerie song that supposedly plays in his lair."

"And how do they know that?"

"The locals actually don't know for sure, you see, no one who has ever been into the lair has ever come out alive, but it is said that the song plays on a continuous loop, two lines, over and over."

"Do they know what the two lines are?"

Staci smiled. "Oh yes. _Jeepers Creepers, where'd ya get those peepers? Jeepers Creepers, where'd ya get those eyes?_"

Carla shuddered as Staci's sang the words again in a low voice. "So what's so scary about it?" she asked.

"He doesn't grow old and he can't be killed. He keeps himself alive by devouring the body parts of his victims. Oh, but he's very particular about who he hunts. He has to smell the fear in them. But once he's got your scent in his memory, you can just kiss your life goodbye, because that son of a bitch will hunt you down. You can't hide from him and you can't fight against him."

"Is that it?" Danny asked.

"Oh, come on, it was way better than you're lame stalker story," Staci retorted.

"Yeah, maybe so, but that story doesn't make sense at all."

"Well I may not have told it exactly like the old lady said, but I don't think she was just trying to scare me, there was a real fear in her eyes."

"Did she reek of alcohol?"

Staci grimaced slightly. "She did smell of sherry."

"There you go, she was probably some old lady drunk who didn't know what she was talking about."

As Danny and Staci argued, Carla stared wide-eyed into the fire. Her shakes had increased and her body shook like a leaf caught in a high wind. Her breath came in short gasps and her fingers were cutting into her skin.

"Carla? Are you okay?"

Carla looked up to see that Staci and Danny had stopped fighting and that Staci had moved away to crouch down by Carla's side. "Yeah," she lied, "I'm fine."

"And on that note," Danny said, suddenly rising and stretching, "I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight," Wesley said.

"Don't let the Creeper bite," Danny said with a wink.

Carla shuddered as Danny strolled past her and into the house.

"Well, I think I'm going to head in too," Wesley said, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "I'm exhausted from the long drive."

He headed inside too, leaving Carla and Staci alone by the dying fire.

"Do you want to go inside?" Staci asked.

Carla shook her head. "Not just yet."

"Are you sure? You look pretty spooked, maybe—"

"I'll be fine," Carla reassured her.

Staci sighed. "Alright, if you're sure."

She rose and retreated to the house, leaving Carla alone. The fire gave a pathetic snap and a flurry of embers rose into the sky, carried off by the gentle breeze that had picked up. Carla rose form her spot on the bench and made her way to the end of the patio, leaning up against the wooden railing and stared out onto the open water. Even though it wasn't full, the moon reflected brightly on the water. Carla sighed, the sound of crickets was a much appreciated reprieve to the sound of car engines. Just then, an unnatural sound rises into the air. It was very faint and distant that Carla first thought she was just hearing things, but then the sound came again. It sounded like wind rushing through a small hole, yet there was no wind, and it grew louder.

"Hello?" she called, not really expecting an answer.

The moan came again and Carla shuddered, it sounded like someone in deep sadness. She almost felt pity for whatever was making the sound; the pain it must be experiencing had to be terrible. But, suddenly, the moan turned into a shriek of fury, which was followed by a different scream. Carla lifted her eyes to the sky just as two shadowy figures crossed in front of the moon. They circled each other for several seconds, before diving at each other, tearing and slashing. Their images were hard to make out, but Carla was sure they were both armed with sharp teeth and claws. As the two ripped into each other, Carla's mouth opened, she took a deep breath, and started screaming.


	4. A Bad Dream?

"Hey, hey Carla! It's okay!"

Carla was lying on her back on the deck, Danny, Staci, and Wesley all leaning over her, trying to calm her down.

"Carla!" Staci cried, grabbing her friend's shoulders to hold her still, "Look at me."

Carla's eyes were wide and were flying left to right. She whimpered and tried to cover her face with her hands.

"Hey, no, Carla, look at me," Staci said.

"No—monsters—Creeper!" Carla cried.

"Carla! Calm down, it's okay, it's me, it's Staci. Look at me."

Carla's eyes finally focused on Staci's face. "Staci?"

"Yeah, yeah it's me!"

"It's here! It's awake!"

"What is?"

"The Creeper! I saw it, there were two of them!"

Staci was silent for a moment, exchanging glances with Danny and Wesley. "Carla, that was just a story."

"No, they're real!"

"There was only one."

"No, there were two. They attacked each other. And—"

"You must have been dreaming," Danny said, "There's no such thing as the Creeper."

"Come on," Staci said, "Let's get her inside."

Wesley bent down and pulled one of Carla's arms over his shoulder, getting her to her feet. She was still shaky and couldn't get her footing. Wesley literally dragged her back to the house. He carried her into the living room, setting her gently on the coach. Staci found a blanket and pulled it up to Carla's chin, tucking it in close to her body.

"So, what do you think?" Staci asked once they were in the kitchen and out of earshot of Carla, not like it mattered; she was still shaking and staring around wildly in terror.

"About what?" Danny asked, "That she imagined the Creeper and she's freaked out about it?"

"Carla isn't one to imagine things," Staci said, "She has the worst imagination ever!"

"But you saw how freaked out she was after you told that story. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her."

Staci rolled her eyes. "What would you say if I told you that I heard something right before Carla started screaming?"

Danny shifted. "You heard something? Like what?"

Staci shrugged. "I'm not too sure, it was very faint, but it sounded like moaning."

"Moaning? Like the sound the wind makes?"

"No, it wasn't the wind."

"Well, maybe we should all head back to bed, we can discuss this more in the morning," Wesley said.

Staci peered around the corner at Carla, still on the couch. "I think she needs a doctor."

"What's a doctor going to do?"

"Don't doctors know how to deal with people in shock?"

"We can deal with it in the morning," Wesley said, "Just help Carla get to her room and if she's still like this in the morning, we'll leave."

"Ah, come on, man!" Danny complained.

"Suck it up!"

Danny huffed before stomping down the hall and slamming his door. Wesley sighed and followed Staci into the living room, helping her carry Carla up the stairs to her room. He left soon after, leaving Staci and Carla alone.

Staci helped Carla out of her clothes and into her pajamas. Carla was like a limp doll, only moving when Staci moved her. She had gone silent and her gaze remained fixated on something in front of her, but there was no life in her eyes.

"Come on, lie down," Staci said.

Carla obeyed and lay down to stare at the ceiling. Staci pulled the covers up to her friend's chin and moved away slowly. Carla eventually closed her eyes as Staci turned out the light. Staci took one last look into the room before shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Staci walked robotically down the stairs the next morning, yawning. She was still wearing her pajamas and had on pink bunny slippers. The sound of voices in the kitchen told her she wasn't the only one awake. Danny and Wesley had already started a breakfast of chocolate chip waffles.

"Ah, Staci, you're awake! Want some waffles?" Wesley asked, waving a spatula full of crispy waffles in her face.

"Ugh, no thank you," Staci said, shoving Wesley's hand away, "I just want some cereal."

"You're missing out!" Danny added, his mouth full of syrupy waffles.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, that's disgusting!"

Danny smiled and opened his mouth wide.

"_Gross!_" Staci exclaimed.

"Hey, are you going to wake up Carla anytime soon?" Wesley asked to distract Staci from smacking Danny.

"I was going to let her sleep in, you know, to see if that'll help her."

"Hey!"

Staci spun around. "Carla? You're awake!"

"Yep," Carla said, nodding.

"You're looking better," Wesley said.

Carla smiled. "I've figured out a solution."

"You're admitting that it was just a bad dream?"

"No, there was no way that was a dream. No, the solution is that I want to leave. Right now."

"Are you kidding me? You want to cancel our summer plans because of your crazy imagination?" Danny demanded.

"Chill out, man," Wesley said.

"Don't tell me to chill out! This is fucked up! We just got here! I want to fucking enjoy my freedom of high school!"

"Look," Staci interrupted. "I know how we can make this work."

"How?" Danny and Wesley asked at the same time.

"I'll drive back with Carla and the two of you can stay."

"What are you gonna drive? Dad's car?"

"I was going to drive the pick-up. I've driven it a couple of times, I can handle it."

"Are you sure?" Carla asked, "I was fine just driving back myself and returning your car when I saw you next."

"Don't worry about it, if you're nervous, I'll be more than happy to go back with you. But, do you mind if we go later? Maybe after lunch?"

Carla gave a small, but nervous smile. It was clear she wanted to put this place behind her. "Fine, I guess I can wait."

"Okay, I promise, after lunch, we'll leave."


	5. Nothing to be Afraid of?

"Isn't it beautiful?" Staci asked, looking out onto the blue waters.

"Yeah, yeah, can we go back now, I'm tired," Danny complained.

"We've only been out here for twenty minutes," Staci said, "We haven't even made it halfway along the lake!"

"But I'm hungry!"

"You had twelve waffles!"

"You forget, dear sister, that guys are bottomless pits," Wesley said with a grin.

Staci just rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll head back."

She turned sharply on her heal and proceeded to retrace her steps. Carla followed close behind, still uneasy, but not shaking anymore. She had been the less eager to go for a walk along the lake, but after some coaxing, came along. Now, she seemed relieved that they were walking back to the house.

"I'm going to make me a nice, big, turkey sandwich," Danny started listing the many ingredients that he was going to include in his monster of sandwiches.

Staci slowed down slightly so that she could speak to Carla privately without the interruptions of Danny and Wesley.

"So," she started, "Did you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Carla asked.

"The moan."

Carla's eyes widened. "You heard it too?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm still not sure. I don't think it was the wind because I've never heard the wind sound like that before."

"It definitely wasn't the wind," Carla said, "It sounded sad."

"Yeah, I noticed that too, but what could it have been?"

"Wait, are you saying you believe me about the Creeper?"

Staci hesitated. "Look, I don't know what to think. Maybe you just imagined the Creeper after you heard the moan because it scared you."

Carla shook her head. "I told you already, I didn't imagine it."

"Alright, forget about it," Staci said, "Let's just get some lunch and we can go."

* * *

"Carla? Are you ready?" Staci called from the bottom of the stairs.

Carla appeared at the top, dragging her suitcase behind her. "If I've forgotten anything, you'll get it back to me, right?"

"Of course I will," Staci said, "Now come on, we're going to be getting out later than I planned."

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," Carla said. She was in a much better mood now that she knew for certain that she was going to be able to leave.

"Alright, I think I've got everything I need," Staci said, doing a quick checklist in her head, "You boys will be good when we're gone, right?" she asked, giving her best 'mother' impression.

Wesley smiled and rolled his eyes. "Yes _mother_! We'll be good!"

Staci smiled. "Alright then, enjoy your summer!"

She lifted the pickup's car key from its hook by the garage door and pushed the door open, flicking on the lights. Her smile faded as the lights lit up the garage and she was able to see what happened.

"What is it?" Carla asked when Staci didn't move over the threshold. She peered over Staci's shoulder and let out a loud gasp.

Wesley and Danny were curious now and they moved to the door too, easily seeing over Staci and Carla. Wesley felt as if he had been punched in the face. He pushed his sister out of his way and ran into the garage.

"What the fuck?" he screamed, kicking the wall.

The front hoods of both the Impala and the truck had been dented in and smashed. The hood was bent funny on the Impala, showing the ruined engine beneath where several parts were leaking fluid.

"Oh, this is _not_ happening!" Wesley cried, pulling his hair and giving the wall another good kick, "_Fuck!_"

"Holy shit," Danny said when he finally found his voice. He moved into the garage too to survey the damage better.

"Wesley, calm down," Staci attempted to console her brother.

"No, don't tell me to fucking calm down. This is a perfect time to freak out!"

"We were only gone forty minutes. Who could come open a garage door, destroy two cars, and then shut the door? All before we got back?"

"Something not human," Carla said.

"Don't start with that again!" Wesley screamed, jamming his finger at Carla, "I don't have time to worry about your shitty fear!"

"How else can you explain this? No normal human could do something like this!"

"Alright, if that's how you want to do it, fine!" Wesley said and he stormed past Staci and Carla in the doorway.

"Where are you going?" Staci asked.

"I'm going to prove to _your_ friend that there's no such thing as monsters!"

"Wesley, wait," Staci called, but he was already at the door to the porch.

"Look here, Carla, no monsters!" Wesley said as he stepped out onto the deck. He turned around as Carla, Staci, and Danny came to the porch door. He spread his arms out. "Nothing to be afraid of."

Carla opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't say anything, all she did was let out a short scream. Her eyes went wide and she started backing up.

"Carla?" Staci asked, all eyes were on her friend.

Carla couldn't speak, her breathing coming out in panicked gasps. She pointed to something over Wesley's shoulder, her hand shaking. Wesley rolled his eyes as he turned around, convinced that Carla was seeing a bird in the distance, or something. But when he saw what it actually was, he tried to scramble away quickly, only to lose his footing and fall.

The creature that was climbing up from the outside of the railing continued its climb until it reached the top, where it sat perched. Its body was made up of a hard exoskeleton and was jet black. Sharp claws curved from both its feet and hands and its tail was adjourned with a wicked barb. Its head was long and curved with no visible eyes and a mouth full of sharp, silvery teeth. As it sat there, large black wings unfurled from its back and it let out a low growl. It looked over at the three teenagers who stood frozen in terror by the door before dropping its gaze down to Wesley who was unable to get back to his feet. The creature hissed and pounced.


	6. The Creepalien

Wesley screamed and punched at the creature as it landed on top of his chest, but the creature swatted his hands away like flies. Wesley was persistent, making the creature hiss in annoyance and quickly pin Wesley's limbs.

As he struggled, he caught a glance at his friends, who still stood frozen in the doorway. "Get out of here!"

He went still when a small object shot out of the creature's mouth, aimed for his face. It stopped within inches, small teeth snapping furiously, before disappearing just as quickly back into the creature's mouth. The creature watched Wesley, but he understood the warning and forced himself to lie still. The creature hissed lowly when he calmed down and brought its face alongside Wesley's, rubbing against his cheek. Wesley shuddered at the clammy skin and whimpered, trying to turn his head away. The creature followed Wesley, keeping the touch unbroken. It seemed to be enjoying itself.

"Do something," Wesley begged in a low voice.

He could feel the creature's hot breath on his neck as it rasped in his ear. Suddenly, the creature's head whipped away and its weight was momentarily lifted. Wesley tried to move out from under it, but the creature recovered quickly and re-trapped him. There was a cry from above and Wesley caught sight of Danny wielding a fire poker, swinging it for a second attack. The creature was ready for it this time and brought its tail up to deflect the strike. Nevertheless, it still shrieked in pain as the poker struck along its barb. It glanced at the wound and growled as a single drop of blood oozed out, running down to the top of the barb where it hung precariously. Danny gave another cry and raised the poker for round three. The creature bared its teeth furiously and tightened its grip on Wesley's arms, it's claws digging in deep. Danny froze when he heard his friend crying out in pain.

Wesley knew he was bleeding and he closed his eyes, fearing the end, but the attack never came. Instead, to his surprise, he felt the creature's grip loosening. He opened his eyes to see the creature backing away. However, there was nothing around to give any reason for it to suddenly back off. The creature gave a hiss and extended its wings to their full extent. Just as it pumped them down to give itself lift off, it brushed the tip of its tail down Wesley's left leg just below the knee. A second later, it was gone. But Wesley no longer noticed; his leg was now searing in pain. Wails of agony ripped past his vocal cords as the pain seemed to intensify.

"Wesley?"

He couldn't tell who had spoken, his vision was fuzzy and he was having trouble distinguishing who the faces belonged to above him.

"It burns!" he screamed.

Three voices blurred together as they shouted frantically above him. Suddenly, his legs were being drenched in water. He heard a bucket being dropped on the deck and he felt a pair of arms encircle him. The pain was still there, but it diminished greatly and the blurry faces above him slowly came into focus. His sister was the one holding him. Danny was crouched in front of him, by his leg, but Carla was nowhere to be seen.

"Dude, are you okay?" Danny asked. There was a strange look in his eye as he looked down at the wound.

"How bad is it?" Wesley chocked out.

Danny couldn't respond so Wesley forced himself up with his elbows and he finally got a look at his leg. His pants' leg was nonexistent beyond his knee. The thin trail of blood had burned all the way through his jeans, through his skin, and through the muscles, exposing the white bone. Wesley started screaming at the sight of the white bone, glistening brightly against the darker color of the surrounding skin and muscle. The sight of his leg also signaled for it to flare up in pain again and he was washed in white-hot pain. He felt two pairs of hands on his chest that forced him to lie down and then he saw Carla coming out of the house, with a first aid kit in her hands.

"What the fuck do you think that will do?" Wesley heard himself screaming, "You just gonna cover me in fucking Band-Aids?"

"There's some gauze in there that we can use to wrap up your leg until we can get you to a doctor," Staci was saying in a calm voice.

"Oh God, it hurts so much!" Wesley wailed.

"I think there's pain medication too," Carla said, digging around in the box, and pulling out a pill bottle.

Staci seized the first-aid kit and fished out the gauze, handing it over to Danny who began wrapping it tightly around Wesley's leg. Wesley moaned and clawed at the wooden deck, leaving scratch marks. Carla moved quickly to extract the pills from the bottle. When she handed them to Wesley, he snatched them up and swallowed them dry.

"What did the police say when you got in touch with them?" Staci asked Carla while her attention remained on her brother's leg.

"Um," Carla hesitated.

"What? What is it?" Staci shouted.

"The phones are dead," Carla said.

"Dead? What the fuck do you mean dead?" Wesley shouted.

"I think _it_ cut them, so we couldn't get help."

"Fucking great!"

"Calm down, Wesley," Staci said.

"No, this is bad! This means that we're stuck here with no way to get out, no way to call for help, with that fucking thing coming after us!"

"Why didn't it just kill us just then?" Danny asked, "It looked like it could have easily done so. Why did it spare us?"

"It's toying with us," Wesley answered.

"What was it anyway? The Creeper?"

"No," Staci said, "The Creeper is humanoid, that thing is far from human."

"Than what is it? Some kind of flying alien?"

"Maybe," Staci replied.

"Didn't you say that the Creeper smelled out its victims?" Carla asked, her mind racing.

"Yeah. So?"

"I don't know if it was just me, but it looked like that thing was smelling Wesley. Like it was trying to determine if he had the right kind of fear. Just like the Creeper."

"So what, you think it's some kind of alien version of the Creeper?" Danny asked.

Carla shrugged. "Maybe. A Creeper-alien."

Danny gave a small smile. "A Creepalien?"

Carla didn't laugh, instead she gave a shudder. "Why does it seem like that name fits it so well?"

"Why do you have to name it?" Staci asked.

"I don't know. I guess it makes me feel better that I have a name to associate with the thing that's trying to kill me."

"That's not funny, Danny."

"Not trying to be funny."

"Can we worry about this later?" Wesley asked, "I kind of want to get out of here."

"What do you suggest? There's no way we can walk; we'd be making ourselves targets."

"What about that?" Carla asked, pointing.

Everyone glanced up and saw one of the nearby houses with its lights on.

"Someone might be home," Danny exclaimed in excitement, "Their phones might be working!"

Staci looked down at her brother. "Will you be able to walk?"

Wesley shrugged. "Help me up."

Staci and Danny got on either side of him and hoisted him to his feet. He put all the weight on his right foot, keeping his left foot dangling.

"Try to ease some weight on it," Staci encouraged.

Wesley tensed and lowered his foot slowly to the ground. His toes touched first, but as he started putting more of his foot down, the front of his leg seared and he quickly lifted his foot again, shaking his head.

"I can't."

"Alright, we're going to have to act as crutches—" Staci started to swing her brother's arm over her shoulder.

"I'll get it," Danny insisted, "You two go ahead a little to alert the family."

"I think we should stick together," Carla suggested.

"Carla's right, it'll be easier pickings if we're spread out."

"Then just walk in front of us, we'll be right behind you," Danny said.

Staci nodded and took Carla by the arm, forcing her to move on ahead. Wesley put his arm around Danny's shoulders while Danny put his arm around Wesley's waist. He walked slowly, so that Wesley could keep up as he hopped along.

None of them knew the horrors that awaited them at the house.


	7. Terror

The trek was slow, and by the time they reached the house, night had begun to fall. As soon as they had gotten closer, Carla and Staci had started screaming for help, but no one came out. Even when they reached the porch and knocked on the glass door, the house was dead silent.

"Why isn't anyone answering?" Carla asked.

"Is the door unlocked?"

Staci tried the door and it glided open smoothly. The minute the door was open, a horrible stench filled all their noses. Carla covered her mouth and ran to the edge of the porch, throwing up over the side.

"What's that smell?" Danny asked, covering his nose with his hand.

Staci gagged. "It's in my mouth! I can taste it!"

"I think this family's in trouble," Wesley said.

He started hopping inside, forcing Danny to came along to keep him from falling over, Staci and Carla following behind closely. He moved through the empty living room, following the smell to the kitchen. When they entered the kitchen, Danny started gagging and actually had to let go of Wesley so he could throw up in the living room. Carla screamed and ran out of the room.

The kitchen had been stained red. The family of four must have been seated down for dinner when they had been attacked. The young son lay face down in his plate of food, his back cleaved open, exposing his spine. Dried blood covered his chair, staining much of the tile underneath the table. The mother had been dragged on top of the table where she had struggled until the attacker broke her neck by twisting it 180 degrees. Her mouth was open, as if she had attempted a scream, and her chin rested on her back at the base of her neck. The father had tried to make a run for it with the fourth family member. He had gotten as far as the entrance to the front hallway before he had been attacked. He lay sprawled on his back and bore similar wounds to the boy, but on his front, with his internal organs leaking out onto the floor. His hand was clenched in a tight fist around a torn piece of fabric. A long trail of blood led to the final body.

"Oh God," Staci moaned as her eyes rested on the baby's corpse.

Her small arms and legs and been slashed to ribbons, making the large trail of blood that marked where she had been dragged. Her head had been gnawed on by the attacker and was now just a bloody mess. To top it off, there was a large, gaping hole in the middle of her tiny frame.

"Who would do such a thing?" Staci asked in a low voice, her eyes still on the dead baby.

"Could it have been the Creeper?"

Staci took a shuddering. "I don't think so, the Creeper only takes what it needs and that's usually only one thing. He wouldn't just massacre an innocent family."

"Well we do know of another monster that seems to get a kick out of hurting people," Wesley said.

"You think the Creepalien did this?" Staci asked.

Wesley gave a nod. He looked closer at the wide hole, swallowing to keep back the bile. "Besides, look at that wound. Something had to be very powerful in order to create that much damage. Remember how the Creepalien attacked me? It had a smaller mouth that it launched out with pretty surprising speed. I bet it's strong enough to go through bone and—"

Staci groaned and covered her mouth with her hand, tears in her eyes. "Let's get out of here!" she begged.

"Good idea," Danny said and he pulled Wesley away.

When they exited out through the porch they found Carla leaning over the edge of the porch, throwing up again.

"Carla? Are you okay?" Staci asked, approaching her friend.

Carla gave another gasping heave before lifting her head. When she turned around she didn't look afraid, instead, there was fire in her eyes. She screamed and jumped at Staci, wrapping her hands around her throat.

"Carla! Let go! What's going on?"

"This is all your fault!" Carla screamed, "I'm going to die because of you!"

"Carla, let go of her!" Danny shouted. He wanted to help, but he didn't want Wesley hobbling on one foot.

Carla tightened her grip. "If you hadn't forced me to stay longer, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I'm sorry, alright?" Staci gasped, trying to pull at Carla's hands, "I didn't know this was going to happen."

"Carla! Staci!" Danny called, trying to get their attention.

"Stay out of this, _Daniel_!" Carla screamed.

"Would you just stop it and look?" Danny shouted.

He was looking over Staci and Carla, toward the lake. Carla and Staci followed his stare and screamed, falling back. The Creepalien hung in mid-air, its powerful wings flapping occasionally to keep it hovering. It watched Carla and Staci with interest, its main focus on Carla.

"Alright," Danny coaxed in a low voice, "Try backing up slowly." He kept his gaze glued to the Creepalien.

Carla and Staci got to their feet as slowly as they could. The Creepalien bared its teeth, but did not advance. It merely watched as Staci and Carla backed away.

"Hey Wesley?" Danny suddenly whispered.

"Yeah?"

"How's that leg feeling? Can you put any weight on it?"

Wesley looked at Danny in shock, but his friend was watching the Creepalien with narrowed eyes. Turning his focus to his leg he tensed and eased it down slowly. The pain was still there, but it had faded into a dull throb. He relayed that to Danny.

"Good," Danny said, nodding.

"What are you thinking?" Wesley questioned.

"_Run!_" Danny yelled.

Wesley barely had time to register what Danny had said before he felt himself being yanked to the edge of the porch. As soon as he got his footing he winced as his foot slammed into the ground, but he forced himself to continue running. He looked over his shoulder to see his sister and Carla running after them. The Creepalien was following behind them, but it moved with little haste, almost lazily. Suddenly, the Creepalien looked away, its attitude changing.

"Wait, hold on," Wesley said.

Everyone stopped.

"What is it?" Danny asked.

Wesley pointed out that the Creepalien's attention was no longer focused on them, but on something else over the lake. Everyone looked. There was something giant hovering over the lake, giant wings pumping down to keep it steady. This monster didn't look similar to the Creepalien at all, but they all knew what it was.

"The Creeper," Staci whispered.


	8. The First

The Creepalien shrieked in anger at the sight of the Creeper. The Creeper responded by baring its teeth, but remained silent.

"What do you suppose this is all about?" Danny spoke up.

"If I had to guess," Staci said, "I'd say the Creeper and Creepalien don't necessarily get along."

"Why wouldn't they? They both seem to be after the same thing."

"Maybe that's just it. They see each other as competition for the same thing."

"So that means, no matter who wins, we're still screwed?" Wesley asked.

Staci nodded.

"We should get out of here while they're distracting each other," Carla added.

Her statement was answered by an angry scream. The Creepalien's focus had returned to them and it was currently hurling straight towards them.

"Duck!"

They all dropped to the ground and the Creepalien flew over them, but it recovered quickly, turning sharply in mid-air. Halfway through its turn, it was barreled in the side by the Creeper. They two crashed into the ground, not far from the group, and began tearing and slashing at each other. It seemed that the Creeper was the better fighter, it was able to dodge most of the Creepalien's attack and sneak underneath its flailing limbs to deliver harsh wounds of its own. However, the Creepalien's sharp claws were more adapt to tearing, allowing it to do more damage whenever it landed a blow. The Creeper was forced to pull to bone-like knives from the pockets of its trench coat to aide it in the fight. With this slight advantage, the two seemed more easily matched.

The group remained low to the ground, watching the fight with sick fascination, unable to move to safety.

"We should go," Carla said, but she was unable to move, as were the others.

Just then, as the Creepalien attempted to slash the Creeper's stomach wide open, the Creeper raised of its knives high, slashing down at the Creeperalien's wrist. The blade met with flesh and kept slicing all the way through until the Creepalien's hand plopped down to the ground. Obviously aware of the acidic blood, the Creeper stepped back as the Creepalien wailed in pain and thrashed around. Unfortunately, the Creepalien seemed to recover quickly. It hissed angrily at the Creeper, its tail coming out of nowhere and slashing down the Creeper's chest, before launching itself into the air and flying out over the lake. It got as far as half way before it suddenly went limp and plummeted into the dark waters, disappearing beneath the surface.

The Creeper staggered, but was able to stay on its feet. It turned its attention to the huddling group on the ground. It was bleeding black blood in several places, mainly from the most recent gash across its chest. Eyes moving from one face to the next, taking in a deep, rattling breath. Its gaze landed on Staci and gave a wide grin, revealing sharp teeth.

Staci moaned at the sight of its sharp teeth, but also with the realization of what that meant; she knew what happened to those smelled out by the Creeper and she found herself slowly rising to her feet. Wesley moved to stand as well, moving in front of his sister. The Creeper only watched as Danny and Carla also stood up, but it grinned when it noticed Carla shaking like a leaf.

"What do we do?" Carla asked in a shaky voice.

"The lake," Danny suggested, "Maybe it can't swim."

"No," Carla moaned, "Not the lake."

Danny glared at her. "Do you want to die?"

Carla didn't respond as the Creeper unfurled its wings in the blink of an eye and took to the sky.

"To the water!" Danny screamed.

They all ran to the lake. Carla followed until the water began lapping at her ankles. She came to a halt and looked down at the water. Her friends continued running, their movements slowed as they pushed through the water. She looked up to see the Creeper flying towards her, claws extended. She screamed and dove into the water, kicking as fast as she could. She felt the Creeper's talons snag her shirt, but she struggled free and kept swimming. When she surfaced she saw her friends' heads bobbing in the water and made her way towards them.

"Hey, you did it," Danny said.

"Y-yeah," Carla said with a shiver. The water was freezing!

"Where is it?" Staci asked.

In answer, a dark shadow flew over them. They all dove beneath the surface and the Creeper's claws again came up with nothing. They could hear the Creeper's cry of annoyance and all held off on resurfacing. But their lungs quickly started burning and they were forced to come up for a breath. Luckily, the sky looked empty.

"I think it gave up," Wesley noted. His voice sounded strained.

"Are you okay?" Staci asked.

"No, I think the bandages are coming off and the water is getting into the wound," Wesley answered.

"We need to get him to shore," Danny said.

"Right."

Without even agreeing on it, the four grouped close together, holding on to each other so that they moved as one, hopefully making it harder for them to be picked off, but also making their journey slower. It wasn't long until Carla noticed something strange. She felt an unusual disturbance in the water. It wasn't just something brushing against her leg; it felt more like something had passed close to her leg, buffering her slightly.

"Hey," she said, "Did anyone else feel that?"

The group stopped.

"No, what was it? Drift wood?"

"I don't know," Carla said, "It felt like something moved past my leg."

Staci rolled her eyes. "Carla, now isn't the time to joke around."

"I'm not joking! I felt something—" her voice trailed off as she felt another buffer against her legs.

"Whoa," Wesley, who was next to Carla, said, "I felt that."

"What was it?"

"Just like Carla said, it felt like something swam past my leg."

"I'll take a look. Hang on to me," Danny said.

Carla and Staci tightened their grip as Danny took a deep breath and ducked his head under the water, looking around. It wasn't long before he saw something, merely a dark shadow in the darker waters, it moved swiftly past him, going around the small group.

His head jerked back to the surface. "Sonofabitch!" he screamed.

"What? What is it?" Staci asked frantically.

"That fucker can swim! It's circling us!"

"The Creeper?"

Danny shook his head. "I think it's the Creepalien!"

Carla gave a shriek, her eyes widening. Staci was about to say something in attempt to calm Carla down when Carla was suddenly wrenched from the group and yanked beneath the surface.

"Carla!" Staci screamed.

The three scanned the surface of the lake, their grips tightening, but they couldn't see anything. Wesley was just about to scream for Carla when, only a few feet away, the surface of the lake suddenly exploded upwards in a fountain of water. The Creepalien flapped its wings quickly as it lifted its catch into the air with it. Carla's body and arms were pinned in a crushing bear-hug, yet she still kicked out with her legs, screaming shrilly as she was carried away.

"No! Carla!" Staci wailed, trying to swim after the rapidly disappearing image of her friend and her kidnapper.

She didn't get far as Wesley and Danny collectively grabbed a hold of her and held her back.

"Let me go! I have to save her!"

"There's nothing you can do for her now," Danny said grimly, "You saw that family…"

"No! That can't happen to Carla! I can't let it happen!" Staci moaned, still struggling.

"You can't stop it," Wesley added.

Staci stopped struggling, stopped swimming all together, forcing Wesley and Danny to hold her up while they treaded water.

"Come on," Wesley said, "Let's get back to shore."

"All my fault," Staci started to murmur as the boys dragged her back to shore, "All my fault."

* * *

The Creepalien dropped Carla unceremoniously into the rocky floor in the center of the cavern. It stepped away, allowing Carla to struggle to her feet. She looked around, the cavern wasn't that large and there was only one opening, the one that the Creepalien had brought her through. The Creepalien had moved off into a corner and was watching Carla closely.

"What do you want?" Carla croaked. She didn't know why she asked, she knew she wouldn't get an answer, but she couldn't help herself; human curiosity.

The Creepalien simply hissed and turned its back on Carla, seemingly losing interest. Carla glanced at the opening in the cavern. She found herself moving without thinking, making a mad dash for the possible freedom. She was within feet of the opening when the Creepalien was suddenly there, standing in front of her. She gave a squeak and backed up. It watched her move away, teeth flashing in a dark grin, and growled. It backed Carla back into the middle of the cavern, its tail quivering with excitement.

With her shaking legs, plus the uneven floor, Carla soon found herself hitting the ground, hard, pain shooting up her right arm. She moaned and held her wrist close to her, fearful she had sprained it. The Creepalien's hiss sounded almost concerned as the alien was suddenly at Carla's side, its head close to her wrist. It was then that Carla noticed the Creepalien holding its right wrist close to its body and she remembered that the Creeper had sliced its hand off.

"Oh god," Carla moaned, understanding its sudden and apparent concern.

After making sure that Carla's wrist was undamaged, the Creepalien gave a satisfied hiss and stepped back. Its head swayed back and forth as it studied Carla. A loud, screeching sound split the air, sending chills down Carla's spine. She looked down and gasped. The sound had been the Creepalien's claws scraping across the rocky ground, leaving long gouges. Then, before Carla could think, pain unlike anything she had ever felt seared down both her legs. She tilted her head back and screamed as shrilly as she could, but that did nothing to numb the pain. The Creepalien gave a hiss that sounded like a cackle and Carla lifted her head in order to stare down at her legs. The pain was so great and she had trouble focusing, but eventually she saw the damage. Her legs were cut to ribbons, the Creepalien's claws had ripped through her jeans, skin, and muscle, exposing the white bone. Carla's stomach heaved at the sight of her bones sticking out and she turned her head to vomit. The cave floor glistened with her blood as more continued to pump out.

"Please," Carla cried.

She tried scooting backwards, but that caused her legs to send pain shooting up her body. The Creepalien stalked her slowly, enjoying itself, before it pounced, pinning Carla down as she screamed. It shrieked and bit down into Carla's hand, ripping it off at the wrist. The pain seemed even more intense and she screamed a blood-curling screech, clutching her bloody stump to her chest. The Creepalien moved away to chew on her severed hand, placing itself directly in front of the cave's exit, although it was unnecessary. Carla's vision was swimming in and out of focus from the pain and her head was feeling light from the blood loss that all she could do was lie down and wait.

The Creepalien's face suddenly came into view, Carla's blood dripping down its chin. It hissed and lowered itself closer to Carla. Carla didn't know what was coming next; what more could it do to her? It moved slowly, hissing with eagerness, its lips pulling away from its shiny teeth. Its second mouth shot out and punctured through Carla's chest.

Her body jerked and blood slowly pumped out through the gaping hole in her chest. She tried to scream again, but as she inhaled she started to choke and a strong metallic taste filled her mouth. Her body continued to twitch and with every breath she tried to take, more blood filled her mouth and spilled down her chin. She looked up at the ceiling as it slowly started to fade away and she was gratefully consumed by darkness.


	9. You

Staci had been silent since they made it out of the lake, her eyes were glazed over as she stared out over the water.

"Staci?" Wesley spoke gently.

Staci responded by gripping the blanket around her and pulling it closer to her body. A single tear fell down her cheek.

"It's not your fault," Wesley said for the hundredth time.

"She wanted to leave. I didn't. I forced her to hold off so I could have my walk around the lake. She died because of me."

"We don't know she's dead."

"What else is possibly going to happen?" Staci demanded.

"She might have been able to get away," Danny suggested.

Staci shook her head. "You saw the way that whole family was massacred, if they couldn't get away, at least while the Creepalien was distracted by another, than Carla won't be able to when all its attention is focused on her."

"Come on, let's go back inside. We'll probably be a little safer in the house instead of out in the open."

Staci didn't move. Wesley looked to Danny for help. Danny sighed and came over, lifting Staci to her feet and walking her into the house. Wesley, with new bandages, was able to limp after them. Right as he reached the threshold, his arms exploded with goosebumps, getting the sudden feeling that someone was watching them. He spun around, but it was too dark to see. He quickly shut the glass door, locking it, and pulled the blinds closed, blocking out the outside.

"I found the blankets," Danny exclaimed.

He had set Staci down on the coach in the living room while he ran to the linen closet to grab a handful of blankets and three pillows.

"Good," Wesley said nodding.

None of them had wanted to sleep—if they could even fall asleep—alone so they had made the decision to spend the night in the living room, with all the lights on.

"We really do need to sleep," Wesley said.

"Yeah, I know, but how? What if they come and kill us in our sleep?" Danny asked.

"We'll sleep in shifts, someone always awake to keep watch."

Danny nodded. "Alright, I'll take first watch."

Wesley turned, expecting to have to force his sister to lie down and sleep, but she had already curled up into a small ball underneath her blanket and fallen asleep. He smiled, glad that she was able to fall asleep, and grabbed a blanket of his own, moving off to a spot away from the glass door.

"You sure you're okay with the first watch?" he asked Danny, who as sitting in one of the chairs, his eyes on the glass door.

"Yeah," Danny answered, "Don't worry, get some sleep."

Wesley gave a nod and pulled the blanket up close to his chin. He stared at his sister, sleeping soundly, and prayed that they'd live to see another day.

* * *

Wesley yawned. He rose smoothly from the chair and paced back and forth, trying to keep awake. Danny had woken him twenty minutes ago to start his watch, but it felt like hours. Nothing had come during Danny's watch and nothing was happening now during his. He sat back down in the chair. No matter how many laps he'd take, he still felt exhausted. He sighed and leaned back further into the chair, wondering if he could get away with taking a quick nap.

He jerked upright a second later. He had heard something; something coming from outside. It had sounded like something being dropped into the lake. He glanced behind him to where Danny and Staci slept. He decided he didn't need to wake them, it was probably nothing anyway, and so he rose to his feet, unlocked the porch door, and slipped out on his own. The air was chilly and he only had a thin t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The lights came on with the flip of a switch and he walked to the edge of the porch, casting his gaze over the lake. The water was rippling out from a point near the shore, close to the house, but it was hard to see what was causing the ripples. Deciding it was nothing he turned to head back inside, and came face to face with the Creepalien.

He was frozen in terror, shiny teeth inches from his face, but the Creepalien didn't attack. It was like having a staring contest with Death, except he couldn't see Death's eyes. He was unable to know what it was thinking and that was what scared him. He felt himself trying to scoot sideways, away from those horrible teeth, but that only angered the Creepalien. It screeched and its tail was suddenly lashing out, striking Wesley in the stomach. He coughed and doubled over, clutching his stomach.

"Oh shit," Wesley mumbled.

He was still doubled over and from this point of view his gaze was in line with the Creepalien's hands; they were both there. He knew what that meant, but he found himself unwilling to admit it. The next thing he knew, something was pulling his feet out from under him and he dropped down hard on his bottom, his legs straight out in front of him. The Creepalien lowered its head, studying his bandaged leg. It growled, displeased that the white gauze was covering its handy work, and in one swift move ripped the bandages free. Wesley flinched as his leg began to sting in the cold air. The Creepalien hissed as it admired the wound, obviously pleased.

While the Creepalien was distracted, Wesley looked over at the door. He couldn't see Danny or Staci, but he hoped that they would hear him. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, but held off screaming as a sharp, but small pain flared up on his leg. The Creepalien hadn't done anything extreme, merely laid a claw on Wesley's exposed wound. He understood the message; the point wasn't to cause immense pain, it meant to get his attention. The Creepalien glanced over its shoulder at the house before looking back at Wesley. It hissed and ran one, sharp claw along the deck, gouging deep into the wood. The gesture was clear as well, anyone who came out in answer to Wesley's scream would be killed.

"Please," he found himself whispering, "What do you want?"

The Creepalien cocked its head to the side when Wesley spoke, it looked stumped. Then, it turned its attention to the deck where it had already scratched into the surface. It began scratching in the wood again. Wesley groaned and looked up, trying not to think about the monster currently trapping him. The Creepalien growled, brushing a claw against Wesley's leg to get his attention again. Wesley looked into the Creepalien's face, but that wasn't what the Creepalien wanted him to do. It looked toward the deck and hissed. Wesley slowly lowered his eyes and looked down.

_You_

Wesley's breath caught in his throat as he stared down at the harsh scratching. But he wasn't sure what he was more freaked out about; the fact that the Creepalien wanted him, or the fact that the Creepalien was a lot smarter than he thought.

"No," he whispered.

The next thing he knew, the Creepalien's claws were digging deeply into his right leg. He held back the scream that had risen in his throat. The Creepalien watched as Wesley closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to ignore the pain. It hissed with enjoyment and twisted its claws. Wesley let a gasp slip as his body jerked. Clearly enjoying itself, the Creepalien wrenched its claws out of Wesley's leg and watched as he covered his mouth, trying to hold back his scream of anguish.

"Hey!"

The Creepalien and Wesley both glanced toward the house. Danny was standing there with the fire poker held in his hands like a baseball bat. He was shaking slightly in terror, but had a look of determination in his eyes. Clearly impressed, as well as caught off-guard with Danny's sudden appearance, the Creepalien could only stare. But it recovered quickly and hissed, angry that it was interrupted. It turned back to Wesley and bared its teeth at him.

"Danny," Wesley said in a shaky voice, "Drop the poker."

"No! I'm not going to let it hurt you anymore!"

The Creepalien hissed in annoyance and lifted a clawed hand over Wesley's burn wound, but not touching it. Wesley eyed the hand in terror.

"Just drop it!"

Danny didn't move, he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to surrender his weapon, but he didn't want to see Wesley getting hurt any more. Before he could reach a decision, the Creepalien slammed its hand down hard on Wesley's leg. The pain that followed was excruciating, forcing a scream to rip out from Wesley's throat. Danny's hands immediately released the poker and it fell to the porch with a clatter. The Creepalien lifted its hand, but kept it close, in case Danny decided to try and retrieve his weapon, but Danny remained frozen.

"Wesley?" he called out.

Wesley didn't answer as he clutched his leg tightly above the knee. The pain hadn't gone away like he expected it to once the Creepalien removed its hand, and he had to close his eyes against the pain. He heard the Creepalien's raspy hiss close to his ear, causing him to jump, but he was unable to move away. A small shudder ran up the length of his spine as he felt something cool and slimy brush against his cheek. A few seconds passed before he felt hands on his shoulders.

"Wesley!"

It was Danny calling his name. Wesley opened his eyes to see his friend looking at him with terror. The Creepalien had disappeared.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked.

"What do you think?" Wesley grumbled.

He wiped at his cheek and held his hand in front of his face. It was covered in slime. He grunted in disgust and scrubbed his hand against the deck.

"What the hell does it want?" Danny cried.

Wesley glanced at the word carved into the deck and was unable to repress a shudder. Although, the shudder could have been from the pain; his leg was searing white hot.

"Wesley!" Staci had come out and was by his side in a second. "Oh God, what did it do to you?"

"It, uh, it w-wanted—" Wesley tried to say, but he was feeling dizzy and was starting to lose focus.

"Danny!" Staci was screaming frantically, "Get some bandages! He's going to bleed to death!"

Wesley heard Danny's footsteps as he pounded back into the house. He felt his sister's hands on his face and he was forced to look into her eyes.

"Look at me, Wesley, you're going to be okay," Staci said, "I'm not going to let anything else happen to you."

Her words became garbled and her face turned into a blurry blob. The pain was fading as darkness crept into his vision. He heard her voice rising in pitch, but he couldn't understand what she was saying. Darkness completely consumed his vision and clouded his mind. He knew nothing more.


	10. More Trouble

The first thing Wesley noticed as he began to wake up was that he was surrounded by softness and was resting comfortably on his side. His legs hurt, so he knew he couldn't be dead. He opened his eyes slowly and found himself lying on one of the couches in the living room. His sister was sitting close by in a chair, her chin resting on her chest as she dozed. Wesley sat up slowly, trying not to move his legs around much, but they still throbbed in pain. He pulled back the blanket surrounding him in order to get a look at his legs, but they had been bandaged up, the bandages already stained red. He made a small noise in his throat and Staci's head shot up.

"Wesley! Omigod! Thank goodness you're alright!" she said as she ran over to Wesley and threw her arms around him.

"Ow," Wesley muttered and Staci immediately let go, "What happened?"

"You were attacked by the Creepalien."

"I know that, I mean what happened after that? How come I'm not dead?"

"Wow, that's a lovely thing to say," Staci said.

"I mean it. My blood was everywhere, my legs were a mess, I should be dead."

"I don't know how you survived, I guess you just got lucky."

"How long have I been out?"

"Not long, only half a day," Staci said.

Danny came into the room then, he looked extremely shaken, but relieved when he saw Wesley sitting up.

"I thought you weren't going to make it," he said, "You're really lucky, man."

Wesley didn't know how to respond, he had never seen Danny like this before. He assumed that his friend was just creeped out about everything that had happened. It was then that he remembered.

"Staci," he said, trying to sound gentle, "Carla's dead."

Staci looked at him and her eyes started shining with tears. "I know," she said, "That son of a bitch dumped her body in the lake. So that we could see for ourselves."

That would explain the splash and the ripples, Wesley grudgingly realized. He forced himself to rise to his feet, wincing slightly as pain shot up his legs.

"Wesley! What are you doing?"

"I have to see for myself," he answered.

He hobbled over to the door, but before he could open it, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not a pretty sight," Danny said, "And it's probably the fate we can all bet on for ourselves."

Wesley shrugged Danny's arm off and stepped outside. He walked to the edge of the deck and grasped the railing firmly, not yet peering over the edge. He waited several seconds before forcing himself to look down.

Half of Carla's body rested in the water, the rest was resting on dry land. Thin flaps of skin zig-zagged lazily in the water. Her arms were stretched out wide on both sides and one of them ended in a bloody stump. Like the baby from the house, her chest had a large, gaping hole in it; the final thing that must have ended her life. Her eyes were open and her empty stare seemed to be gazing directly at him while her mouth hung open, dried blood caking her chin. He shuddered and looked away.

"Told you it wasn't pretty," Danny said in a low voice as he came to stand next to Wesley's side.

"We have to do something," Wesley said.

Already his mind was in a whirl, trying to recall if there was any moment when the Creepalien had displayed a potential weakness. The only thing that came to mind was the Creeper, but that would still mean trouble for them. The Creeper could definitely hold its own against the Creepalien, maybe even cause serious damage, but it would still come after them once it had disposed of the Creepalien. And if the Creepalien was injured, it would just use one of them to heal its injuries. There had to be a way!

"Wesley! Hello?"

"Huh?" Wesley asked. He had been so immersed in his thoughts that he hadn't known Danny was trying to get his attention. "What is it?"

"I was trying to ask you what you had in mind."

"Oh," Wesley said, "Well, I was thinking about how the Creepalien and Creeper hate each other. If we could get them to fight, that could provide some cover for us while we tried to get away."

"How far do you think we'd get?" Staci asked as she stepped out to join them, keeping away from the railing. "They'd be done fighting long before we'd have a chance to reach any kind of safety."

"The Creepalien is our biggest threat right now, if it were to be injured—"

"You saw what happened last time it got injured!" Staci cried.

"At least I'm coming up with ideas! You seem to be content on joining Carla!"

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. Staci's eyes filled with tears and her lip started to quiver. Before Wesley could say any kind of apology, Staci started sobbing and ran towards the edge of the porch. She took the steps two at a time, hitting solid ground and running away from the house. Danny chased after her, having grabbed the fire poker where he had dropped it the night before. Wesley was forced to hobble after them, relying on Danny to catch up to his sister. They knew that leaving the house and exposing themselves like this was asking for an attack, but Staci was in too much of a distress to realize.

"Staci!" Wesley called.

He halted, his eyes going wide. A figure was flying toward them at a startling speed. It was too far away to tell if it was the Creeper or the Creepalien, but he called out none the less.

"Something's coming!"

Danny looked up too and, after seeing the creature advancing, hurried his pace. It was a desperate race as both seemed determined to reach Staci before the other. Luckily, Danny reached her first, tackling her to the ground and forcing the creature to miss and fly over their heads. It turned on a dime and came back for a second attack. Wesley saw now that it was the Creeper. Danny had gotten to his feet and held his poker out defensively in front of him. The Creeper continued to advance, but at the last second jerked to the right. Danny swung the poker like it was a baseball bat. The tip raked across the Creeper's chest and it howled in pain, spinning out of control.

Wesley finally found the strength to move and hurried to his sister and Danny as fast as he could. When he reached them, he threw is arms around Staci and held her close. She was sobbing and she was unable to string words together.

"It's okay," Wesley consoled, "I'm here now. And I'm sorry."

"What does it want?" Staci finally got out.

"Guys?" Danny said, "I think it's coming back."

They all looked at the sky. The Creeper was indeed coming back, the gash on its chest bleeding profusely.

"Run!" Wesley screamed.

They all ran and the Creeper followed. When it neared, Danny swung the poker again, but the Creeper was expecting it and grabbed the poker from Danny's hands, flinging aside. It pulled back, baring its teeth and allowed the three to get some distance in front of it.

"Come on, Wesley, you can do it!" Staci cried, pushing her brother forward.

Wesley hobbled weakly, his strength was fading him again. Danny was right behind them, his hand on Staci's back as he tried to guide her across the bank of the lake. He was looking over his shoulder, but the sky was empty.

"Where'd it go?"

Staci looked over her shoulder too. "I don't know, it could be anywhere."

As soon as she said that, something large slammed into all three of them, scattering them.

Wesley's head cracked against a rock and stars danced in front of his eyes. He heard a scream and recognized it as his sister's.

"Staci!" Wesley cried, forcing himself to sit up. What he saw took the breath right out of him.

The Creeper was walking toward his sister, hands twitching with eagerness. Adrenaline coursed through Wesley and he stood up straight.

"Get away from my sister, you fucker!" Wesley screamed, running at the Creeper.

The Creeper growled and turned its gaze on him as he neared. Wesley gasped as the Creeper's hand wrapped around his throat, stopping him in his tracks and cutting off his air supply. The Creeper pulled Wesley closer and took a deep whiff, inhaling his scent. It gave a dissatisfied growl and tossed Wesley to the side.

"Wesley! Help me!"

"Staci!" Wesley cried, quickly getting back to his feet.

He was too late, the Creeper had a tight grip on his sister and was currently launching into the air. Staci continued to scream and yell for Wesley as she was taken away, her voice growing faint as she grew smaller and smaller.


	11. Alone at Last

Wesley fell to his knees, tears pouring down his cheeks. The night had gone silent, with only his sobs to break the stillness. He buried his face into his elbows and allowed his torment to flow out. His shoulders heaved as his breath became short and ragged.

"She's gone," he mumbled, "Staci's gone."

It suddenly felt so real to him; this was the first time he was separated from his twin. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't think. He felt hands on his shoulders, but didn't lift his head. When he finally did lift his head it was because Danny had taken him by the chin and forced him to make eye contact. The look in Danny's eye was what snapped Wesley out of his shock. His friend had a deep sadness in his eyes mixed with a strange sense of determination. He leaned down slightly and the next thing Wesley knew, Danny's lips were pressed over his.

The sensation of inanimate limbs didn't plague Wesley like it did to most characters from stories, and he immediately shoved hard on Danny, forcing him away. As Danny fell back his eyes seemed to clear up, as if snapping out of a trance.

"What the _hell_ was that?" He heard himself shout.

"I'm sorry," Danny said, "I don't know what happened."

"What do you mean you don't know? How does a friend just go and kiss his friend?"

Danny didn't meet Wesley's eyes. "I'm sorry, but I've thought about you as more than a friend for quite some time now."

Wesley raised an eyebrow, he wasn't sure what to think, and then Danny sighed and explained, "I don't know when exactly it happened, but at some time I just started seeing you differently, as some very special to me. I guess I've always thought about you that way but it wasn't until recently that I finally figured out what I was feeling."

"And so you think now is a good time to come out to me?"

Danny shook his head. "I was perfectly happy keeping it to myself, because I knew you don't think of me that way, but I don't know, I guess just the thought of being doomed and possibly dying here…it just seemed like a good time to do it."

Wesley's mind was whirling; he didn't know what to think. It wasn't like he had a problem with homosexuals, but the thought of his best friend being in love with him was just too much for him to bear. Plus, his mind was pretty clouded from everything that has been happening that he couldn't think straight.

"Just stay away from me," he found himself saying.

He was on his feet, without even realizing it, and walking away from Danny.

"Wesley, wait, don't do this! I'm sorry I kissed you. And I really wouldn't call it love, I just feel this great urge to protect you, no matter what."

He caught up to Wesley and tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but Wesley shoved him away again.

"I said, stay away from me!" Wesley said again in a louder voice.

"Don't do this! If you go off on your own, the Creepalien will just pick you off!" Danny tried moving towards Wesley again.

"Don't make me say it a third time," Wesley said.

He didn't want for Danny to respond at that point, he turned on his heel and marched away. He marched away from the lake and the house, towards the main road alongside the mountain. It wasn't until he was several yards from the houses that he thought maybe it hadn't been a good idea to walk away from the only protection he had and into the open. But he didn't stop or go back, merely kept walking. When he reached the stretch of road that just barely touched the base of the mountain, he heard a shrieking cry. He froze and immediately began searching the sky, but it was empty. He started walking again, picking up his pace slightly, but stopping again when the shriek sounded again. This time, he heard the sound of movement just before something smacked into him.

He hit the ground hard, his legs slamming into the ground and nearly paralyzing him with pain. But he wasn't about to be snacked on by this monster, so he started kicking and punching.

"Wesley, stop, it's me!"

"Danny?"

"Come on, get up."

"Is it the Creepalien?" Wesley asked. He looked toward the sky again, but it was still empty.

"We have to find a hiding spot," Danny said.

He grabbed Wesley's arm and pulled him to his feet. Then, without letting go, he started running along the bottom of the mountain. Wesley allowed himself to be dragged, their fight completely forgotten as he thought only about finding a place to hide. Every so often, when they reached a large rock, separate from the mountain, Danny would move it aside slightly to see if they could hide behind it, but there was never anything behind the rock so they were forced to keep looking.

A shrill cry sounded again. They both cowered and searched the sky, but it was still empty. It became obvious that the Creepalien was taunting them, their fear amusing it and making it drag the cat-and-mouse game out longer. Finally, Danny pulled a rock aside, revealing a shallow crevice, about two feet wide and three feet deep, just enough room for one person to squeeze inside. Wesley tried to back away, they weren't both going to fit in there, they would just have to keep looking. But with a quick shove, Danny forced Wesley into the narrow space and tried to push the rock back in front.

"What are you doing?" Wesley asked, holding the rock back.

"Stay here."

"What? No! What are you going to do?"

"Listen, there's only going to be one chance for this. You have to make a break for it once the Creepalien's, you know—"

"No! I'm not going to let that thing kill you!"

Danny leaned in, planting another kiss on Wesley's lips, effectively cutting him off. Wesley didn't pull away this time; he was in too much shock. When Danny broke the kiss, he was smiling.

"I told you," he said, "I'm going to protect you no matter what, even if that means sacrificing myself."

"No!"

Danny continued smiling, but his grin quickly turned into a look of shock. Blood trailed down from the corner of his mouth and he was suddenly ripped away with a panicked cry.

Wesley shrank back into the darkness of his hiding place, only able to see out through the crack where the rock no longer met up with the crevice, so he couldn't see what happened to Danny, but suddenly, there was a loud, ear splitting scream. Danny fell into view, clawing at the ground as he tried to scramble away, screaming in pain. Large black wings swept into Wesley's view, soon followed by the Creepalien. It used one arm to grab hold to Danny's legs, keeping him from getting away. It hissed with amusement as Danny tried to kick at it, allowing him to fight back slightly. With its free hand, it playfully swatted at Danny's back, like a cat with a ball of string, drawing blood, but not creating deep wounds. As Danny moaned in pain, it flipped him over onto his back and put a clawed hand on his chest. For a while, Wesley couldn't tell what was happening, just that Danny was squirming slightly under the Creepalien's hand. Suddenly, several loud cracks ripped through the air, followed by Danny's harsh scream. It became clear that the cracking sound had been Danny's ribs breaking. The Creepalien watched with satisfaction as Danny's breathing became labored as if each breath he took caused him immense pain. It wanted pay back, Wesley realized, for all the times Danny got in its way. It was going to make Danny's death as grisly as possible.

As Danny lay gasping, he turned his head and locked eyes with Wesley's. Blood was trailing out of the corner of his lips, but he managed to give a small smile. Just then, the Creepalien picked up the hand on Danny's chest, not leaving it hanging for long before bringing it down, claws extended, to Danny's chest. It raked its claws down his chest invoking another scream from Danny who threw his head back in anguish and tried to arch his back, but that only proved to cause him more pain.

"Danny," Wesley said softly, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to see his friend's torment.

But Danny's screams became shriller as the Creepalien continued to torture him, forcing Wesley to cover his ears to try and block out the sound of his friend in pain. He was unable to do so and Danny's wails filled his head, echoing around. For several minutes, he struggled to block out his friend's anguish, when, suddenly, everything went quiet.

Wesley couldn't move for the longest time, not even enough to open his eyes. When he finally did and peered out through the crack he saw that there was no sign of the Creepalien. Wesley pushed the rock away slowly, making sure the Creepalien was nowhere to be seen before he stepped out completely.

"Danny?" Wesley called out, unwilling to accept that his friend was dead.

Danny didn't stir. His eyes were wide and glassy and his mouth hung open. There was blood everywhere, more than Wesley thought possible, on the ground and all over Danny. He moved closer, forcing back the bile and dropped down at his friend's side. Large lacerations covered his chest, his arms, legs, hands, except for his face which was flecked with his own blood. However, it wasn't the lacerations that killed Danny, it was the large gaping hole, caused by a powerful inner jaw, in his chest that finally ended his life.

"Danny, I'm so sorry! I never should have reacted that way! You shouldn't be dead right now, I shouldn't have run away. If I hadn't stormed off you'd still be_—_" he couldn't finish. Not just because his voice broke as he struggled to hold back the tears, but because he knew that no matter how many times he apologized, how many times he blamed himself, he wouldn't be able to bring Danny back. Danny was dead and there was nothing he could do about it.

With two shaking fingers, Wesley gently closed Danny's eyelids, covering the blank and empty stare. He allowed the tears to fall as he lifted his dead friend's head and cradled it in his arms, ignoring the blood that got on him. He was the only one left now and, like his friends, he wasn't going to make it out of this alive.

'_You have to make a break for it!'_

No, he wouldn't just stand here and wait for either of those beasts to come after him. If he did that, Danny's death would have been for nothing. He had to try to make a break for it; maybe if he reached the town, he'd be safe.


	12. Finally Over

The barren land stretched on for miles, but Wesley didn't let that slow his pace. He pushed on, forcing himself to never go below a powerwalk, wanting to stay ahead of the monsters that wanted to kill him. He tried not to think about Danny and the sacrifice he made for him, but his thoughts kept drifting back. Leaving Danny's body behind was hard, but there was no way he would make any progress if he had to drag a load of dead weight with him.

He didn't know how long he had been walking before he finally felt it; a strange feeling that he wasn't along. He paused and listened, but there wasn't a single sound, not even the sound of the wind. He resumed his pace, perhaps picking it up a little bit. He walked a little more before suddenly getting the feeling again. This time, however, when he stopped, a soft hiss responded. Wesley's body tensed and his injuries began throbbing in anticipation. He knew what was behind him now, but he didn't want to turn around and see for himself. The hiss sounded again, closer than before and Wesley felt a puff of air on his neck. He had no choice now, so he pulled together what little courage he had and turned around. The Creepalien's face was no more than a foot away from his own. It bared its teeth when Wesley turned to face it, making it obvious to Wesley that he was now alone. He watched it closely, knowing he wouldn't be able to outrun it, but willing to try anything.

He broke into a run, turning back in the direction he was heading and pushing himself into his full speed. The Creepalien didn't launch into the air immediately, rather it waited until Wesley had gained a certain distance from itself before spreading its wings and taking to the sky. In only a few strokes, it was soaring over Wesley, its shadow casting down on him. Wesley didn't pause, refusing to look up at his assailant, rather, he forced himself to keep running at his current speed. He used the Creepalien's shadow to judge its height and when it would possibly come down for an attack. Therefore, he was ready when he saw the Creepalien's shadow grow larger and was able to crouch down low, low enough for his hand had a chance to briefly drag along the ground, feeling the wind stir up from the Creepalien's powerful wings and its claws as it attempted to rip into Wesley. The Creepalien shrieked and flapped its wings harder, carrying it ahead of Wesley. Wesley came to a sudden stop as his path was cut off. Three feet stood between them.

But, as Wesley stared into the row of shiny teeth, he noticed something different about himself, he didn't feel any fear. Instead all he felt was a dark anger. An anger that had been growing inside of him since his first encounter with this monster. He wasn't going to let it get the satisfaction of tasting his fear anymore. His hand clenched tighter around the fist-sized rock he now gripped in his hand. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it would cause damage, maybe enough for the Creepalien to realize Wesley wasn't worth it anymore. The Creepalien hadn't noticed that its prey had picked up a weapon, but it did notice Wesley's change in demeanor, which caused it to hesitate; it wasn't used to Wesley's bravery.

"You killed my friends, you son of a bitch!"

The Creepalien hissed and advanced. Wesley gripped the rock tighter and forced himself to wait. The Creepalien had to be close enough where it wouldn't have the time to dodge Wesley's attack, which meant that it had to come within inches and was likely to attack long before he could get his counterattack in. But the Creepalien was cocky, it thought that it had Wesley trapped, out in the open with nowhere to hide, that it didn't attack, only wanted to increase Wesley's fear.

_Now!_ Wesley thought and he swung his arm around, hard. The rock flew from his fingers and launched toward the Creepalien. Like Wesley had predicted, it was too close to get out of the way in time, and the rock smacked it clear across the face. It jumped backwards, hissing and spitting in a rage. The rock hadn't done nearly enough damage to send it away, but it did leave a long gash across its face. It growled and in an instant slammed into Wesley, sending him to the ground. Apparently, fighting back hadn't deterred it in the way Wesley had been hoping, in fact, it seemed angrier, and he immediately started kicking as the Creepalien advanced.

"Stay away from me!" Wesley shouted angrily, still kicking.

The Creepalien hissed and swatted at Wesley's flailing legs. Growing impatient, it jumped and pinned Wesley to the ground, no longer playing its cruel game and drawing out the torture. Wesley struggled to pull free, but the Creepalien was relentless and refused to let go. Wesley closed his eyes, waiting for it to all end, but the Creepalien suddenly shrieked in shock and was ripped away from Wesley. Wesley opened his eyes in surprise and looked up. What he saw made him gasp; the Creepalien was being held back by none other than the Creeper. However, the Creeplaien was flailing wildly and soon wriggled free of the Creeper's hold, launching at Wesley again.

Wesley cried out as the Creepalien's claws dug into his right arm, holding on tight. Before it could grip his left arm in the same manner, the Creeper grabbed its tail and jerked it away. Wesley screamed as the Creepalien's still embedded claws raking down his arm as it was pulled away.

Through the pain, Wesley forced himself to see what was happening when the Creepalien screeched in fury. The Creeper was holding the Creepalien firmly by the throat, attempting to hold it just out of reach of its face, which the Creepalien was trying to tear to shreds. Wesley scooted away slowly, finding himself unable to tear his gaze away, curious as to the outcome of the fight.

As the Creeper held back the Creepalien, it glanced towards Wesley and made a small gesture with its head. Wesley was shocked; the Creeper was actually distracting the Creepalien so that he could get away. Without waiting for the Creeper to change his mind or lose its grip on the Creepalien, Wesley scrambled to his feet and took off running, not looking back as a terrible, furious cry rang out.

* * *

He had lost track of time. He had stopped running a long time ago, when the sound of the massive fight had faded away into the background. Nothing came after him so he was certain that the fight was either still raging, or the Creepalien had been defeated, although, it was more likely the former.

He kept his gaze on the ground, not paying attention to where he was going, relying on the road beneath his feet to guide him toward the town. He wasn't even aware of the pain anymore, his whole body felt numb. The gouges on his arm were no longer bleeding, but that was because he had used parts of his shirt to bind them. He was scared, along, and hungry.

"Hello Wesley."

Wesley froze. Not just in the sense that his whole body became immobilized, but in the sense that all the warmth in his body seemed to evaporate in an instant. After such a long period of silence, he was unaccustomed to sound. But the real reason he found himself rooted to the spot, an unnatural chill sinking into his bones, was because the voice was all too familiar, one he thought he'd never hear again. He turned slowly and found himself gazing into the eyes of his sister.

"I said 'hello'," Staci repeated.

She was smiling pleasantly, her eyes soft and warm. Her hair hung straight around her face and her clothes were wrinkle free and spotless, not a speck of dirt on them. Wesley could only stand with his eyes wide and his mouth agape. When he was unable to respond Staci's head tilted slightly to the left, as if confused.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Y—you—you can't be alive," Wesley managed to stutter out when he finally found his voice.

"And why not?" Staci asked sweetly.

"The Creeper took you, there's no way you survived."

"No, of course I didn't survive. You didn't protect me!" she screamed the last sentence with an immense fury that made Wesley jump, "You abandoned me! You left me to die!"

"No," Wesley tried to say, "There was nothing I could do!"

The edges of Staci's body began to shimmer and flicker, like an old television image, and her eyes narrowed in hatred. In the blink of an eye, Staci no longer looked alive; her skin was grey and rotting and her clothes were torn. The right side of her stomach had been cut open, exposing the rotting organs within. They were squirming and writhing and it took Wesley a moment to realize that they were covered in maggots. When she spoke, her voice was no longer sweet, it was sharp and raspy.

"You let me to die! You are to blame for my death!"

Disgusted, Wesley was unable to form any words. He dropped to his knees and started heaving, throwing up what little there was in his stomach. When he lifted his head, Staci was gone and he was alone. He stayed where he was for a while, breathing hard and sobbing, unable to force the image of his sister rotting from his head.

He truly lost track of time after that, the nights and days blurring into each other. He had hoped Staci would be the only one he would hallucinate, but he had no such luck. Danny was the next one to haunt him.

"Hey buddy," Danny said.

He had suddenly appeared on a rock a few feet in front of Wesley. Wesley ignored him and continued walking. Danny jogged to keep up.

"Well that was rude, leave me behind, will ya?"

"You're not real," Wesley said.

"Yeah, of course I'm not, you left my corpse to rot back there."

"I had no choice, you'd just weigh me down."

"Oh, so that's it, huh? I'm just a burden to you now?"

Wesley shook his head. "I'm not going to have an argument with a hallucination of my best friend."

"Oh, so I'm your friend again?"

"What?"

"As I recall, you didn't want anything to do with me after I spilled my soul to you. In fact, you just let the Creepalien turn me inside out."

"What was I supposed to do?"

"That mother fucker wanted you," Danny suddenly shouted, "You should have died!"

"You said that you wanted to die for me!"

"Whatever, if that helps you fall asleep—"

Wesley swung his fist out at Danny, but his swing met with nothing and he was once again standing alone. He wasn't free from the hallucinations, however, and for a while, the Creepalien walked alongside him, sometimes circling him from the sky, like a vulture waiting for him to give up and die. At one point, he thought he was on a beach, surrounded by bright blue water. He had dropped to his knees and scooped up the blue water in his cupped hands. He was seconds from drinking it and cooling his parched throat when the water suddenly returned to sand. Wesley stared at the sand in his hands, still contemplating drinking it and ending his suffering, before letting it fall to the ground and forcing himself to struggle on.

He wasn't sure how long he had been walking now, but it felt like a week, his feet were numb and his right arm hung from his side like a limp doll. He was hungry and thirsty and his right leg, where the Creepalien had burned him, felt like it was going to explode. He tried taking another step, but couldn't go any further and fell to his knees. This was it; this was where he was going to die. Darkness began creeping around the corners of his vision, but he didn't fight it anymore.

"You okay, kid?"

He didn't get his hopes up, it was just another hallucination, but it took him a moment to register that the voice speaking to him was unfamiliar. He forced himself to look up and saw a concerned-looking man staring down at him. He had never hallucinated a stranger before; he must really be dying. His hand felt like a dead weight as he tried to lift it; he had to touch the man, to see if he was real. If he wasn't, he would disappear when he made contact. But the next thing Wesley knew, his hand was meeting with flesh. This was a real human! He glanced around, then, and realized he had collapsed at the edge of town and several other locals were making their way toward him. He had made it.

"Kid?" The man kneeled down in front of him, his surprised gaze on the bandages on Wesley's body. "You okay?"

Wesley shook his head, but was overcome with dizziness and fell face first into the ground, succumbing to the darkness while the man shouted frantically above him.


	13. No Survivors

Wesley picks at the armrest of his chair. He had just finished his story for Dr. Matthews. He keeps his head down so the doctor wouldn't see him trying to fight back the tears.

"What happened after that?" Dr. Matthews finally asks.

"I woke up in a hospital, I think it was a week later," Wesley says, "My parents were by my bed. My mom was in hysterics. She told me about all the surgeries that I had and how the burn on my leg had gotten infected and there had been a point where they thought they were going to have to amputate my leg."

"So did you tell them?"

"I couldn't at first, I was still very weak and the doctors told my parents that they weren't allowed to question me until I recovered."

"How did they react?"

"They were silent for a long time, but then my mom started crying and my dad looked at me with disappointment. They called the police in and I had to repeat my story to them."

"Had the police already investigated the area?"

"Yeah, they found Carla and Danny's bodies, but they never found Staci's. They wanted to know if I knew what happened. I told them that they would never find a body because the Creeper took her."

"They didn't believe you?"

"Of course not," Wesley answers, "They were the ones that told my parents it was best if they put me in the loony bin until I was ready to tell the truth."

"What did they have to say about your injuries? How did they expect you to explain those?"

"Beats me," Wesley says, "I tried to show them the marks the Creepalien's claws left on my arm, but they didn't seem to care."

Dr. Matthews appears to hesitate. "May I see them?"

Wesley meets the doctor's eyes. He doesn't move for the longest time, more out of shock of the question than anything else. Finally, he reaches for the sleeve of his hospital uniform and lifts it up slowly. He hadn't looked at any of his scars since he was brought here; every time he did, he would be tormented by even more vicious nightmares. He almost forgot what they looked like, almost. He watches Dr. Matthew's eyes as he stares at the four, long gouges in Wesley's arm. A strange flicker passes across his eyes, before he smiles sympathetically. Wesley quickly covers the mark and looks down.

Dr. Matthews sits in silence for a while before clearing his throat. "What about Staci? Do _you_ think there was any chance she survived?"

Wesley shakes his head. "No way. She's been dead for a long time now."

Dr. Matthews starts jotting down on a pad of paper. "Tell me, Wesley," he says as he writes, "Why do you think you were targeted in the way you were? What did the 'Creepalien' see in you that made it so drawn to you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Wesley asks.

Dr. Matthews sighs and gives a shrug. "Wesley, I'm trying to help you get better. Perhaps if you thought about everything from different standpoints, you might figure out the truth."

Wesley cracks a small grin. "I knew it. You don't believe me. You're just like the others—"

"I believe you need help, and I want to be the one to help you. Think about it, why would the 'Creepalien' come after you."

"I don't know."

"You must have some idea—"

"I said I don't fucking know!" Wesley shouts.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Matthews says, calm despite Wesley's outburst, "I'm just trying to help."

"You can't help me, there's nothing anyone can do for me."

Dr. Matthews stares at Wesley intently before sighing. "Alright, I think that's enough for today, you can go back to your room now."

Wesley gets to his feet and marches out of the room, aware of the doctor scribbling away energetically on the pad.

* * *

_~That night~_

Maggie sits hunched over the front desk, engrossed in her paperwork, but she lifts her head when she hears the sound of approaching footsteps. She smiles kindly. Her eyes drift over to the round clock face that sits near her desk; five minutes to eight. Five minutes until visiting hours were over.

"Hello," the woman says when she approaches the desk.

"Can I help you?" Maggie asks.

"I'm looking for a boy named Wesley. Is he still here?"

"Yes he is, what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to see him," the woman says.

"Cutting it kind of late for visiting hours, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry, but this was the only time I could come," the woman responds.

Maggie smiles gently. "He's not really taking visitors right now."

"Please, I'm a family friend."

Maggie squints. "What's your name?"

"It's Heather."

"Look, I really would like to help you, I would, but only immediate family are allowed to see him right now."

Heather's eyes narrow and Maggie suddenly feels a great sense of dread. "I need to see Wesley, now."

Maggie's mouth gapes. The woman doesn't raise her voice, but the anger is clear in her words. "Well, Heather, normally I wouldn't allow it, but please, follow me."

The odd sense of dread immediately evaporates as Heather smiles and follows Maggie down to the end the hallway. Maggie stops in front of the very last door and presses a button by the door handle. A loud buzzer sounds.

"Just buzz me when you're ready to leave, okay?"

"Thank you," Heather says.

Maggie opens the door and Heather steps inside. The door shuts behind her, giving out another buzz. Wesley is lying on his stomach on his bed. He doesn't look up.

"Hello," Heather says.

"Who are you?" Wesley asks without looking up.

"My name is Heather."

"What do you want?" Wesley asks his pillow.

Heather doesn't reply, but a small grin begins to creep up her lips. When Wesley realizes she isn't answering he glances up.

"I wanted to come and tell you that you're not crazy," Heather says when Wesley's gaze locks with hers.

Wesley's eyes grow curious. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the Creepalien, silly."

"You believe me?" Wesley asks, skeptical.

Heather's smile widens.

"Did you see it? How'd you get away?"

Heather only continues to smile.

"Are you going to answer me or not?"

Heather moves closer then, the smile never wavering from her lips. "How do you like Dr. Matthews? Your new doctor?"

"What?" Wesley asks, taken aback by the question.

"You never wondered why you got a new doctor?"

"I figured they thought a younger doctor would be able to relate to me better. Dr. Thomson was kind of an old stiff anyway," Wesley found himself answering. He is completely terrified at this point; there's something off about the woman standing before him.

Heather's smile widens. "So, do you like Dr. Matthews?"

"What's it to you?" Wesley asks.

"Because my brother wants to know if he can pass off as a doctor," Heather answers.

"What? Dr. Matthews is your brother? Does he know why Dr. Thomson quit?"

"We both do. I killed him."

Wesley's eyes widen. He knew then why he got such a horrible feeling from this woman; she seemed to radiate evil. "You what?"

"There weren't supposed to be any survivors," Heather says, "But imagine my surprise when I overhear some doctor speaking of a delusional patient who believes he was attacked by the Creepalien."

"But—"

Heather keeps talking, "I captured that doctor and got him to tell me everything. It's amazing how the rule of doctor-patient confidentiality doesn't apply when one's life is thrown into the mix. Once I knew everything, well, there was no need to keep him around so I had him killed."

Wesley can only stare at Heather. She speaks of killing like it's a completely normal thing! Dread suddenly fills him as his mind forms a possible outcome for her being here. "Are you going to kill me too?" he asks in a soft voice.

Heather's smile erupts into a full, dark grin. She pulls a sharp dagger from a holster on her hip, holding it daintily between her two index fingers. "Yes, like I said, there aren't supposed to be any survivors."

"So why did your brother come in the first place? If the end result was to just kill me?"

"Dr. Thomson couldn't seem to tell us if Staci had somehow survived or not, he said that you weren't clear about it. We had to get the information from you in case we had to go on another hunt after your sister. We found out that they had already hired a Dr. Matthews to you. Luckily, David was able to take Dr. Matthews' place, he looked similar enough, and then it was just a matter of making you tell us what happened. Once my brother was certain that there was no chance anyone but yourself survived, I put my part of the plan into action."

She fingers the tip of the blade, a small grin on her face. Wesley glances at the nurse's button by his bed. He could get there in time, before she could do anything. Heather catches him eyeing the button and her grin widens.

"That's not going to help you," she says. She does nothing to stop him as he scrambles back and begins pounding on the button. No one comes.

"Why are you doing this? Don't you think it'll look suspicious from a police stand-point?" Wesley asks, desperate to buy himself time.

"We've thought it out, we've had dealings with the police before and are quite good at predicting how they'll see a situation. As it is, they already think that it was just a group of armed goons who killed your friends and sister, they just don't have the proof yet. When they find you, they're going to think that the goons were afraid you'd eventually reclaim your senses and tell the police who really attacked you. So they came here and had you murdered, in order to cover for themselves. And, if need be, my brother can pretend to be Dr. Matthews again and say all the right things that will make the police believe that you were starting to make progress and there was a chance you could turn in the goons."

Wesley is truly terrified now, there is no way he can get out of this. His gaze moves to the knife and he becomes transfixed by his reflection in the blade. As Heather draws closer, he backs up until his back hits the wall. Realizing he has no room to maneuver away, he closes his eyes and raises his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself.

"Help!" he screams.

His scream turns into a chocked gasp as Heather shoots forward with startling speed and drives the dagger into the soft spot just below his rips. Wesley tries screaming again, but all he can manage is a watery gurgle as blood fills his mouth. He clutches at Heather as his legs grow numb. He looks into her eyes and can see his pained expression reflecting in them. He is appalled to see that her eyes seem to glow brighter as she watches him suffer. Heather smirks and leans in closer to Wesley, her cheek brushing against his.

"I'm doing you a favor, you know," she whispers into his ear, "If the Creepalien ever caught you he'd have taken his sweet time, drawing out your anguish for his enjoyment."

She thrusts the knife in deeper, jamming it up further underneath his rips and twisting it sharply. Wesley gives a final gasp before the life leaves his eyes. Heather's grin widens and she pulls the knife free, letting Wesley's body fall. She wipes the knife on the bed sheets, staining them red, before turning and walking to the door. She hits the buzzer and the door opens for her a second later.

As she steps back out into the hallway, she casts her gaze down at Maggie's body. "Good work," she says.

The alien standing over the body hisses, blood dripping down its chin.

"Let's go home."


End file.
